Drink to Your Health

Studies show that drinking wine--whether you're tossing back a daily glass of Two-Buck Chuck or ChÃ¡teau Lafitte--is healthy for you. It's been linked tolower risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. But what gives the nearly 70 wines we tested a greater claim on being "healthy wines" is the way the wines are made. Every one is grown in one of four eco-friendly ways, and that pays off in added health benefits (no toxic chemicals). Here's what you'll be reading on more and more wine labels:

USDA-certified organic means that winemakers have proven their product was grown and produced without herbicides and pesticides and with no added sulfites, preservatives that keep the wines from losing their color and taste, but which can cause serious allergic reactions in susceptible people. (Sulfites occur naturally, so no wine is sulfite free.)

Made from organically grown grapes These healthy wines are also chemical free, though they may have small amounts of added sulfites.

Sustainable vineyards use natural methods, including sheep to keep weeds down and owls to kill rodents, so that dangerous chemicals aren't necessary.

Biodynamic wines are produced using farming techniques in tune with the environment and other practices that take into account the cycles of the sun, moon, and planets.

With the help of our experts, Christy A. Canterbury, national wine director for the Smith and Wollensky Restaurant Group in New York, and Jean Reilly, New York City-based wine consultant and journalist, we picked nine wines* that tasted as good or better than anything else on the market. Clearly, there's something to this green approach to winemaking.

*To view the Organic Wines poster, you must have the Adobe Acrobat reader. To download this free software, click here.

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